Wonderings after Watering the Cat

by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM   August 31, 2025

No wonder I yelped. The lifeforce in my tiny garden has burst out in a riot of fuchsia, bright orange, shades of yellow, deep pink, and green. In this densely packed space, even weeds are intimidated. You can imagine my surprise when I was maneuvering my watering can one humid morning and the large gray feral cat that roams the neighborhood jumped out from under a patch of Black-eyed Susans. I had unintentionally watered him, and we looked at each other, startled.

In hindsight, I should not have been so stunned. This summer I had been noticing Tom (a really original name, I know) had chosen as his preferred spot for lounging a space on the patio right next to pots of mint and basil and lavender. I wondered if he was drawn by their fresh scents or if the attraction was the direct line of sight this gave him for gazing at the flower bed bursting with color on the ground below.

Because Tom really was gazing in that inscrutable way of cats. Delighting in something akin to the way I bask and breathe in all that beauty and whisper, “Thank you!”

Which drew me into a wondering about soul, the souls of animals. I’ve read that Thomas Aquinas considered animals to have what he called sensitive souls, the animating principle of living organisms. I suspect, however, that Thomas might have been shocked to hear my third grade self insisting that I did not want to go to heaven if Corky, our beloved Cocker Spaniel mix and the sweetest being I had ever met, was ineligible for the afterlife. How could I be happy forever with God, I wondered, if a resurrected Corky could not be at my side in heaven? How, indeed.

I imagine that all of us who delight in, care for, and talk to any four legged companions sense that dogs and cats and other members of the animal world are more than pets. In New Tricks: How Pet Ministry Can Transform Faith Communities and Change Lives, the authors note that, just as the Holy One offers love without conditions or expectations and loves us simply as we are, so “our animal friends embody this kind of love” and offer a glimpse of unfailing faithfulness. What a sacred kinship we find ourselves enjoying when we enter into relationships with these sensitive souls created by the Holy One. Who lean in closer. Who nuzzle us. Who read our moods and emotions. Who scrutinize and scan our expressions. Who show us affection, no matter what.

What I propose is not so much a theology as a deep intuitive knowing. I’m quite certain that Mary Oliver and many of us are aligned in naming the company of animals as yet one more expression of the love the Holy One holds for us. With the poet, may we also prepare our hearts and be engaged in “Making the House Ready for the Lord”:

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed
but still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice—it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances—but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.

Takeaway
Sit in stillness with the Holy One.
If you have furry companions nearby, invite them to sit with you for a bit.
Or set before you their photo or an image of an animal you’re drawn to love.
Reflect on the qualities of these animals that hint at the love of the Holy One for you.
Give thanks for the wonder of all creation.

Featured Images:  unscriptedMe, Unsplash; Nicholas Brownlow, Unsplash

NOTE:
During the nine years I’ve been writing for Mining the Now, it’s been my custom to take a break from writing for one month each year. For 2025, that pause will be in September. I’ll still be engaged in retreat ministry but will not be posting any new blogs until October.

Meantime, we continue to hold in our hearts the wounded in our world, especially the children of Gaza and Ukraine and Minneapolis and those who give their lives over to caring for and protecting them.

Please also hold in your prayer all who will be part of these retreat experiences during September:

September 7 – 12:
Guided retreat for the Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, New York

September 15 – 20:
My own retreat

September 30 – October 8:
Directed retreat at Eastern Point Retreat House, Gloucester, MA
I will be one of the guest directors for this retreat.
Thank you!

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